Wolves record: 11-25
The Wolves did just that, turning a nine-point halftime deficit into a 106-104 victory that ran their winning streak to five games and kept them undefeated in the New Year.
Randy Foye scored 10 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, and Rodney Carney had a season-high 22 off the bench for the Wolves, who had to sweat out a Michael Redd miss in the final seconds to notch their seventh win in the past nine games.
Redd had 32 points, and Richard Jefferson added 29 for the Bucks (18-21), who came up just short in their bid to give coach Scott Skiles his 300th career victory.
Al Jefferson had 20 points before fouling out with 1:29 to play for Minnesota, which improved to 11-25 overall and 6-11 under McHale…
Timberwolves coach Kevin McHale was ejected at the end of the first quarter of tonight’s game against Milwaukee for arguing with officials.
According to a team spokesman, McHale was arguing a non-call on what he thought was a foul on Mike Miller when official Tommy Nunez, Jr., hit him with a technical.
Official Sean Corbin, who wasn’t part of that conversation, then slapped McHale with a second technical, earning him an automatic ejection.
From the Canadian Press:
Miller gave McHale a high-five as he left the court with the Wolves down 28-19.
Assistant coach Jerry Sichting then took over the head coaching duties and led Minnesota to its seventh victory in nine games.
“Jerry, Coop [Dean Cooper], J.B. [Bickerstaff] and Eddie Pinckney deserve [all the credit]. I spotted them nine points and they came back, despite me and won the game,” McHale said.
Along with Carney, the bench play was solid for the Wolves. Kevin Love cleaned the glass for 12 boards on the night in only 22 minutes of play. Mike Miller scored eight points and found his shooting stroke from the 3-point line by hitting 50 percent on the night.
Rodney Carney scored 22 points, and Sebastian Telfair added 17 points and 11 assists for the Wolves, who have won five in a row for the first time since December 2005.
MVP: Rodney Carney, Wolves
The emerging reserve scored 22 points and provided the energy in a 10-0 run late in the third quarter that got the Wolves back in the game.
Foye — the team’s leading scorer in each of the previous three games — was 0-for-4 and had only one point when the Wolves reached the fourth quarter trailing by five. He scored 10 more, including five in a row to start the Wolves back from an 88-84 deficit with nine minutes left and another five consecutive that broke open a score tied at 100 with less than three minutes left.
His three pointer with 2:28 left put the Wolves ahead to stay, at 103-100.
“Confidence, that’s all it was,” Foye said. “Believing in myself. That’s the difference now: We believe.”
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